The Port Authority of Jamaica expects to commission the Kingston Logistics Park, KLP, by June, and is currently in what it calls the “tenant attraction” phase to entice clients to the facility.
“KLP seeks to attract international, world-class supply chain operators and their clients to use Kingston as part of their supply chain solution,” said Kimberley Stiff, assistant vice-president of marketing and communications at the Port Authority.
The logistics park incorporate 18,000 square metres of warehouse space. The Port Authority expects to make a return on investment of over 10 per cent on the park, which reportedly cost US$28.5 million to build.
“The KLP offers near-port lands, 40 hectares for the development of logistics facilities, an attractive logistics platform, on-port and near-port facilities, as well as multimodal connectivity,” said Stiff.
The Kingston Logistics Park project falls under the wider Logistics Hub Initiative, or LHI, designed to position the country as a global destination in cargo trans-shipment and logistics services, the Port Authority stated. The KLP is a flagship marine-based industrial zone developed under the new Special Economic Zone Act of 2016, the port agency explained. Together, the LHI and the SEZ Act are intended to help stimulate economic development, attract foreign direct investment, and to introduce new, innovative technologies to the country.
Some of the Port Authority’s other infrastructural projects slated for completion in the next fiscal year include the Portmore Informatics Park, which offers 160,000 square feet of business process outsourcing space; the conversion of Reynolds Pier to become the second cruise ship terminal in Ocho Rios; the upgrading of the Port Royal Cruise Terminal with sewage and terminal facilities; the development of a new berth for fuel and cargo vessels at the Port of Montego Bay; and the rebuilding of the Hampden Wharf at the Falmouth Port to serve as an artisan village.